Landlord Mistakenly Registered Exempt Apartment

Landlord asked the DHCR whether an apartment would be considered rent-stabilized if it was by law exempt but had been mistakenly registered with the DHCR. The prior landlord had registered tenant's apartment in 1986 and given tenant a rent-stabilized lease in 1992. However, the building contained five apartments on the May 29, 1974 base date. In an opinion letter, the DHCR stated that the apartment wasn't rent-stabilized. Rent stabilization coverage can't be imposed by an agreement between landlord and tenant or by landlord's prior treatment of the tenancy as rent-stabilized when the apartment wasn't covered by the rent stabilization law.

DHCR Opin. Ltr. by Nathaniel Geller (5/9/96) [2-page document]